KOTA KINABALU:The Sabah state government’s overall financial standing for the year ended Dec 31, 2019 was stable, according to the Auditor-General’s Report (AG’s Report) released today. 

The report said that the State Government’s Consolidated Fund recorded a decrease of RM521.59 million or 13.8 percent to RM3.25 billion in 2019 compared to RM3.77 billion in 2018. 

Meanwhile, its Consolidated Revenue Account recorded a surplus of RM214.24 million, an increase of RM151.66 million or 242.3 percent compared to RM62.58 million in 2018.

“In 2019, the state government’s revenue collection stood at RM4.26 billion; an increase of RM105.46 million or 2.5 per cent compared to RM4.15 billion collected in 2018,” it said.

The AG’s report also noted that in 2019, a total of RM974.43 million in development expenditure had been approved and a total of RM810.40 million had been spent.

It added that out of 760 projects which had been planned, 99 projects have been completed, 445 are in the midst of being implemented and 216 have not been implemented.

Claimable loans balance rose by RM3.88 million or 0.3 per cent to RM1.207 billion during the year, from RM1.203 billion in 2018.

However, the report noted that it could not confirm on the balance of arrears as there had been differences in the balance of arrears stated in the supporting documents.

Meanwhile, the state government’s public debt arrears declined by RM1.05 billion or 27.7 per cent to RM2.74 billion in 2019 from RM3.79 billion in 2018.

"At the end of 2019, the state revenue arrears rose by RM18.84 million or 3.7 percent to RM527.64 million compared to RM508.80 million in 2018," it said.

The report also stated that 39 out of 45 state agencies had submitted their financial statements for the year ended Dec 31, 2019.

--BERNAMA